Tensions Thawing
by Sara Jaye
Summary: The big important fight with King Ashnard was almost there, and all Rolf could think about was how cold it was, and how he and Mist hadn't talked for weeks now.


He'd expected it to be colder in Daein, but he hadn't expected it to be _this_ cold. He'd laughed when Titania offered to knit him some leg warmers like she'd made for Mist, but now he would have paid her for them.

Not that Mist needed them, or the cloak she wore. Mist never seemed cold, it was as if she _were_ sunshine. Sometimes he wished he could still be as innocent as she was, that he didn't feel like he had to be killing enemies all the time just to feel safe.

_We're really here. We're really gonna be fighting King Ashnard soon._ He didn't even know who King Ashnard was except for a bad guy who made a war happen. Soren and Titania were the ones who knew all the big stuff, he was just...there.

Sometimes, deep inside, he wished he _had_ done as his brothers said and stayed home. He wished he'd listened to Mist about just being kids again. Just running around the fields, picking flowers, laughing, not knowing anything about the dangers of the big bad world.

Mist sat beside him in their tiny shared tent. They'd barely said a word to each other since the big argument they'd had a while ago and he didn't know what to do. Sometimes he felt like shaking her and telling her he was right, that she knew he was right and it was stupid and naive to think otherwise. But then he'd remember how scared he was the first time he killed an enemy, the knotting in his stomach and the dizziness and the sight of blood, blood _he'd_ spilled.

_But I had to! It was coming right for Mist, if it had hit her...if it'd hit anyone I care about they'd be dead!_

"Rolf..."

He froze. She was talking to him, what should he do? Pretend he was still mad, act like it wasn't bothering him...even though he'd missed her. He didn't like being mad at his best friend.

"Rolf," she said again. "Talk to me, please. I...I'm not mad at you. I'm just _worried_, you're not acting like yourself anymore. Not everyone's a target, some of them are just-"

"I know that!" he suddenly shouted. "Targets don't squirm and bleed and bed for their lives! I know the enemy's human but they're trying to hurt you and everyone else I love! I-I can't..." He choked, tears welling up in his eyes. "If I let them live, any of them...they'll..."

She moved closer and put her arms around him and that did it, the tears spilled over and he buried his face in her chest, his body heaving with months of unshed tears. She felt as cold as he did and all he could think about was how many times she'd put herself in the line of fire to heal someone, the wounds she'd taken, how she could be _dead_ right now if the enemy had been luckier.

"Oh, Rolf..." She rubbed his back. "So that's why. All this time you've just wanted to protect us, you've been as scared as I was. I didn't realize..." She sniffled. "I thought you weren't you anymore."

"I'm sorry," he muttered. "I should've just told you but then you'd have felt sorry for me and I would've felt even weaker. You...mean a lot to me, Mist, I just want to make sure you never get hurt if I can help it."

"You're important to me, too, Rolf," she said, pulling him closer. "You're so cold..."

"So are you."

Silence. Rolf's tears finally stopped and he felt lighter, like some great weight had been lifted off of him. When he looked up at Mist, he saw a few tear tracks on her face...and that she was blushing.

"Um..." She swallowed. "Er, I heard some of the others talking about how...to stay warm. When it's this cold."

"How?" Her blush deepened.

"Take our clothes off," she said, so quietly he could barely hear it. "B-because our skin, it's warm, and...and..."

"Y-you mean..._naked?_" he squeaked. "Er, right, yeah. Um...well..."

"We used to take baths together when we were little kids," she said.

"But we're not little anymore." He tore his gaze from the curves of her hips and her chest, suddenly embarrassed for staring.

"I know..."

Eventually, the need to keep warm won out over embarrassment. Mostly. He undressed quickly, trying not to sneak glances at Mist as he did, and once they were both down to their last layers she pulled him under the blankets, huddling close to him. His face burned brightly at the warm softness of her skin against his, the subtle curves of her chest. _This is Mist. We've known each other forever._

"There...t-that's better, right?" she said. "Um..."

"I'm sorry!" Boyd and Oscar had finally taught him the facts of life, but actually having it happen was different from Boyd saying it did.

"No, it's okay! Titania said...that's what boys' bodies do." Mist snuggled closer. "You think we should..."

"No! No, not _that,_ I wouldn't know what to do. No...it'll go away on its own." He pushed away the small part of him that didn't think it was such a bad idea, and Mist sighed with relief.

"Oh, good! We're growing up but we're still a little too young for _that_," she giggled. "Um, Rolf?"

"Yeah?"

"I missed you."

He buried his face in her shoulder, closing his eyes. He understood, she understood and everything felt okay again. Even if he couldn't promise they'd never fight again, he'd never let things get so bad that they stopped talking.

"I missed you, too."


End file.
